AI art critics have found an unexpected and influential supporter: the Bishop of Rome, Primate of Italy, and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church. Pope Leo XIV took to X on Friday morning to articulate the spiritual distinction between art created by humans and art produced by machines, framing his message as part of a broader effort to protect human artistry from AI's growing influence.

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce," the Servus Servorum Dei wrote. "There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity."

The pope had already addressed AI more comprehensively in an encyclical letter issued in May, which stressed the significance of human dignity amid rising automation. Despite this stance, AI companies have continued trying to sway the supreme pontiff. A recent New York Times report revealed that Anthropic has been actively lobbying the Vatican to reconsider its position on non-human consciousness—efforts that appear to have gained little traction.